Time and Age
by chocolafied
Summary: Sofia enjoys the quiet portion of the morning before the children wake up.


**So I am still writing for these two...Lord help me the feels that these two give me...  
Based on one person requesting a second chapter to "Tulipano Bianco", but I decided that it was fine as a oneshot. I instead wrote this as an indirect sequel of sorts~ **

**And feedback is greatly appreciated! :D**

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Sofia sighed as she looking in the mirror one morning. Crows feet were beginning to form by her eyes and her forehead had the first signs of aging. The woman pulled back the red strands of hair that were usually so stubborn and refused to be bound back by her favorite hair ribbon. One strand, however, hovered right over her eye and the woman blew up at it, watching in annoyance as it fluttered upwards before floating right back down to where it had been previously. The Venetian woman sighed in annoyance, giving up and heading out of the bedroom.

Flavia and Marcello were growing up quickly it seemed. They were already five and six when yesterday it seemed like they were toddlers. Sofia considered herself lucky enough to have enough energy for keeping up with the little rascals. Flavia was the brain behind all of their little schemes as they delved through the house and tried to find their papa's "toys" while he was away or not around. The woman had to chuckle at the thought of her husband, now fifty-seven, jumping around and running after their troublesome children. They took after Ezio, that much was for sure!

The morning light beamed in through the villa's windows through the cracks where the long curtains failed to block it out. The children were still asleep, as eight o'clock had not come around yet, and Sofia sighed at the perfection of the moment of where she could pick up a book like she used to and just read and enjoy the silence that went along with it. Sofia put the kettle over the fire and sat down at the table, picking up a book from the small pile that was by the edge of the table. One thing that had never changed was Sofia's lack of being able to keep her books in one place. Organized they were, but they seemed to crawl from their places on the bookshelves and appear on table tops and seats of chairs overnight.

Ten minutes or so must have gone by when the kettle began whistling and she was brought crashing back to reality from the plateau of the chapter's cliffhanger. "Così forte!" Sofia hastily grabbed the handle of the kettle and brought it onto the tray that was resting on the table she was sitting at. The door opened as she was pouring the hot tea into the second tea cup on the tray for the set of heavy footsteps that was quickly approaching.

"Buon giorno, Ezio." She didn't look up as she greeted him, already know he was smiling widely now. Sofia didn't notice that one hand was hiding what it was holding from the Venetian woman's line of sight.

He walked over to her and paused, smirking as his lips neared her cheek. "Buongiorno, amore mia." Sofia laughed lightly as he planted a light kiss on her cheek and felt his whiskers brush roughly against the soft skin of her face. Ezio leaned away a bit and revealed what he was holding behind his back. The redhead's eyes widened as she let out a soft gasp.

Sofia looked up at him, studying him for a moment before slowly reaching up and gently plucking the white tulip from his grasp. "Grazie." She sniffed the flower, as she did for all of the other ones that he had gotten for her in the past. The man smirked, beard and hair now more of a salt and pepper mix. Ezio's eyes, however, seemed to be immortal and never aging whenever he looked at her.

Ezio sighed as he sank into the chair opposite of his wife and picked up one of the tea cups off of the tray. He watched as Sofia placed the flower on the table and sit down, moving with deliberate and slow movements as she picked up her respective cup and took her first sip of the brew. The silence was comfortable, as it always had been between the two. Emerald and chocolate brown eyes usually did the talking as they looked at each other from across the table.

Sofia looked up at her husband as she was still taking a sip of her tea, meeting the older man's awaiting stare. It went on for several seconds as they held each other's stare. The redhead finally put down her tea cup and sighed lightly with a pleasant smile. She looked up, seeing Ezio smirk at her and raise his eyebrows at her once. Bewildered, she blinked a few times back at the former assassin. He smirked at her once more, raising his eyebrows a few more times suggestively.

When the realization finally hit the younger woman like a head-on collision with a wall, Sofia's jaw dropped, earning a low chuckle as a response from her husband. She playfully glared at him, sitting up straight with a stiff back as she picked up her tea cup and took another long sip, staring him in the eye. Ezio's smirk grew as he leaned back in his chair with a sigh of content.

From upstairs, a door opened and then slammed closed within a matter of seconds. The loud thumping of small feet could be heard running down the upstairs hallway as another door opened and then closed with a second set of footsteps echoing after the first. The parents looked at the staircase before back at each other and sighed lightly when they knew the peace was over.

Sofia stood up and placed her cup down on the tray as she began walking towards the staircase. A hand grabbing her wrist stopped her, though. The woman turned her head, only to find herself being pulled into a light peck on the lips. Right when she was about to lean in, Ezio pulled away, giving her his usual loving stare paired with his smug smirk that she had come to swoon over whenever he showed it.

The footsteps were growing loud as thunder as two children were running down the stairs towards their parents. "Mama! Papa!" Flavia ran into her mother's arms that wrapped around her short form as the little girl tried to wrap hers around her mother's larger frame. Sofia looked up seeing Marcello being held in the air by her husband and then hugging him tightly when his father held him closer.

The parents shared a look and a smile before walking the kids into the kitchen for breakfast for another normally hectic morning.


End file.
